What Sunderland need on deadline day

It's here again. With the mess over Big Sam and David Moyes taking some time to get going it has been a tough transfer window for Sunderland. They have bought a few for the future and plugged a couple of gaps so far but there is a lot of work to do this afternoon. Here is what Sunderland still need to do this deadline day-

Goalkeeper

Whichever way you look at it we need a goalie. Whether you want to keep Pickford as number one or as backup every Premier League team needs three keepers. Missing out on Joe Hart is a blessing as far as I'm concerned but to go in to the rest of the season with only 2 goalkeepers and both being young and untested is a real risk. This has to be a priority.

Centre Back 

Whether Lamine Koné stays or goes we need to get cover here. With an injury to O'Shea we are short here as well. Rodwell and McNair can do a job here but to stay in the league we need more cover. I like Koné and I think Djilobodji will turn into a good player but we ultimately need more.

Centre midfield

This is probably the least pressing of these needs with some quality and experience to come back from injury but this won't happen soon. The players we have been linked with seem to have turned is down in one way or another. Back to the drawing board on the last day of the window isn't a good place to be.

Striker

Although the formation we have will mean that we only play one striker we still need a quality backup in this position. Borini doesn't score enough goals to be relied on. There will be games where we want to throw on another striker or where Defoe is injured. Because of this we need a player who will step in and bag a few. This is another high priority today.

Read about the key battle areas ahead of the Sunderland v Newcastle derby

It's a big day in the North East of England on Sunday with the Wear-Tyne derby. No matter where the two teams are in the league, this match is huge. I think it's a actually intensified with the fact that the two teams are in lowly league positions, although Newcastle will feel a little less pressure than Sunderland after getting their first win under their belts with a 6-2 home win over Norwich City at the weekend. Both teams have a new manager (at Sunderland, though we are in a permanent state of having a new manager) and both managers will have a point to prove. Both managers will have a point to prove to the Newcastle United fans after Big Sam Allardyce's failed tenure at St James Park in the past and Steve McClaren's lacklustre start.

The fact of the matter is that Sunderland have a recent hold over the Magpies with five wins in a row, and home advantage on Sunday. The passion of the home fans, if the home team is in the game, is a massive boost for either of these clubs. The fans are immense and the support that they give their players both home and away is up there with the best in the game.

What will be the deciding factors?

Discipline

I think that the team that keeps their head will stand a much better chance of winning this one. With Colback, Cattermole, Tiote and M'Villa potentially all playing in the centre of midfield there's bound to be a lot of tackles flying in and there will almost certainly be yellow cards galore. Players having to think twice about a challenge for fear of a second booking can turn the game, especially if it's tight,

Goals

I know it seems obvious that goals will decide a game but until the six that they scored against a poor Norwich team, Newcastle had struggled to find the net. Sunderland still struggle to find the net. So it's a match where chances will mean so much more. Will Wijnaldum keep up his goalscoring form from the last match? Will Allardyce disagree with previous manager Advocaat and play Jermain Defoe up front on his own? The answers to these questions will also provide answer to the question "who will win the match?"

The fans

I've mentioned it before but I think that after a rough time for both clubs recently, the fans will be in great voice. Both sets of fans will be looking forward to this match immensely and there will be a crackle of excitement around the cities for the next few days. Thierry Henry was amazed by the atmosphere in the stadium in last years match at the Stadium of Light. But this excitement can go the other way. Fans of both clubs can get on the players backs if things start to go wrong for the team. Sunderland fans have made a habit of leaving the stadium before half-time in recent seasons, while Newcastle fans have been hugely critical of the owner and his cronies. If Newcastle start well then the home fans can quickly get under the skin of the players and you can see the confidence drain away.

I can see this one being really close and a lucky bounce or mistake settling it. I'm not sure which way, but I can see another 1-0.

I'm worried that Sunderland are getting left behind

It's that time of the year, as teams pout their squads together fore the upcoming season. Because of the Euros next summer, the Premier League starts really early this year, with the first round of matches starting on 8th August. This means that having your squad together early and getting them settled into a team plan is vital.

From Sunderland's point of view, the season that started with Paolo Di Canio as manager and we lost so many early games started the snowball effect that only a change of manager and an unbelievable run from Gus Poyet's men got us out of.

The club have stated that they want to move away from perennial relegation fights and towards the top 10. Dick Advocaat stated at the end of the season, when he hadn't decided whether he was staying or not, that we needed 4 or 5 quality signings to take us up the league and away from the bottom end. And as a fan I agree. Looking at the transfer business that teams with similar ambitions have conducted, I'm starting to worry about what we are doing and where we are being left behind. Sebastian Coates and Adam Matthews are good additions in my opinionj, but we need to be looking for another cetnre-back, a left midfielder/winger, a striker and probably another central midfielder. Let's have a look at what some of the other team have done so far this Summer-

Crystal Palace have signed Yohan Cabaye, which is a statement of major intent for the club.He is a talented player and will dictate the tempo of their game. Although he's never a player that we would have gone for, someone of his quality in central midfield would be a major boost to our club. I think that Jack Rodwell was perceived to be that type of player but injury and poor form haven't allowed him to show it.

Two signings for West Ham stand out so far, and that's Angelo Ogbonna from Juventus and Dimitri Payet from Marseille. Both look like they are quality players with experience of European competition. And both are players that look to have been targeted as part of the planning of the club - they've bought players where they need to strengthen. We, however are linked with Stewart Downing, who is being shifted on for Payet. It shows a lack of ambition and doesn't go any way to solving the problem we have with pace in our side.

Stoke City have made some very good signings and have pre-empted the loss of Asmir Begovic by promoting Jack Butland and buying Shay Given. Marco van Ginkel looks to be a promising prospect and the imminent arrival of Glen Johnson will bring in more experience. The return from injury of Bojan will be a massive boost to the club and will feel like a new signing.

Newcastle have been fairly quiet as well but have announced today that they've signed Georginio Wijnaldum, who looks a very good player and is one that we've been linked to. I think that Georginio Wijnaldum would be a massive step up from playing Connor Whickham on the left and it's a real shame that we've missed out on him - if indeed we were ever in for him.

Another team that have been quite busy is Aston Villa. They've spent the Fabian Delph money on Senegalese midfielder Idrissa Gueye, got defender Micah Richards on a free transfer and converted Scott Sinclair's loan from Manchester City into a permanent deal. These all represent good value and Richards signing will probably gall Sunderland fans the most as he looked all set to join us last Summer before Gus Poyet's intervention. Again, the club have looked at where they need players and acted swiftly to get their targets.

Swansea have added Ghanaian forward Andre Ayew on a free transfer from Marseille in their move that has caught the eye the most, for me. This player is quality and adds pace to their counter-attacking style. He'll take some of the pressure off Bafetimbi Gomis after the departure of Wilfried Bony.

I know that there are always huge amounts of rumours at this time of year, and I don't expect (and I don't want) us to buy every player that we're linked with but so many that we're linked with look like a good match and then we find that they've signed somewhere else.

I'd like the squad out together before the first game and us to move forward at the start of the season by picking up the points that start to move us away from the likes of the promoted clubs, West Brom and Leicester, who I think are the candidates apart from us to be struggling. To do this, we need to replace the creaking old-timers in central defence, provide cover for Patrick van Aanholt at left-back, sort out the slow uninventive options at left attacking midfield and free up Defoe and a new strike partner to score goals. No small order - especially when there's only 27 days until the season starts.